What does caprioling mean?
Caprioling describes the act of performing a capriole, one of the most spectacular airs above the ground in classical dressage. In this movement a trained horse leaps straight up from a raised starting position and, at the height of the jump, kicks both hind legs vigorously backward before landing on all four feet. The word derives from the Italian capriola, ultimately from the Latin caper, meaning goat — an allusion to the frolicsome leaps of young goats. By extension, caprioling can be applied figuratively to any person or animal bounding and frolicking with exuberant energy, though this looser usage has a distinctly literary flavor. Today the term appears most often in writing about haute école riding and the famous white Lipizzaner stallions, where it names a movement demanding extraordinary strength, balance, and years of training rather than mere animal playfulness.
verbTo capriole is to perform a leap in which a horse kicks out backward with both hind legs while airborne; figuratively, to caprioling means leaping or frisking about playfully, like a young goat.
- (of a horse) performing a capriole, a dressage leap with a backward kick of the hind legs
- (figuratively) jumping or frolicking about in a lively, playful manner
"The Lipizzaner stallions delighted the audience by caprioling in perfect unison."
"The white stallion rose on its haunches before caprioling across the centerline."
"Children went caprioling about the meadow in the spring sunshine."
When a horse caprioles, it literally leaps into the air and kicks its hind legs out at the moment of takeoff — a move named after the playful antics of goats.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of caprioling
Caprioling is the present-participle form of capriole, which entered English in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century from the Italian capriola, itself derived from the Latin caper, 'goat.' The name evokes the springing leaps of a young goat, which the horse's movement resembles. The same Latin root gives English caprice and capricious, as well as Capricorn and the dance term cabriole.
Related word forms
How caprioling is actually used
The word is chiefly used in equestrian contexts describing classical dressage movements, especially of the Spanish Riding School; the figurative sense is literary and somewhat old-fashioned.
Easily confused with caprioling
Capering refers to any playful skipping or dancing movement by people or animals, whereas caprioling specifically denotes the high dressage leap in which a horse kicks out its hind legs mid-air.